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Student Attendance

Student Attendance and Educational Outcomes Every Day Counts

In 2013 the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research at the University of Western Australia prepared a report for the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) using data provided by the Western Australian Department of Education (WA DoE). The report documents the findings of a detailed study of the relationship between attendance at school and student outcomes. The study was based on all students who were enrolled in the public school system in Western Australia at any point from 2008 to 2012. The analyses drew on all of this information to examine the complex relationships between school and student characteristics and attendance at school, and how these relate to student achievement.

Key Findings:

Children have highly stable attendance throughout the primary years. Attendance rates fall in secondary school.

Disparities in attendance rates are evident from Year 1. They are carried into, and become wider, in secondary school.

Attendance matters for achievement, and every day counts.

Unauthorised absences are more strongly associated with achievement than authorised absences.

Some students are more adversely affected by absence than others.

Most achievement disparities are in place at the outset of Year 3. Improving the attendance of disadvantaged students may help to reduce these, or prevent the gaps from becoming wider.